Debt to the Devil

THE SILENT GUARD

Cecelia’s POV

​The guards closed my bedroom door from the outside and locked it with a heavy key, leaving me completely alone in the space, and I walked over to the bed because my legs were shaking from the sheer terror of what happened at the docks. I sat on the edge of the mattress, pulling my knees up to my chest while listening to the heavy footsteps of the two enforcers stationed right outside my room, their presence a constant reminder that Marcus considered me a prisoner now. My body felt incredibly strange, with a weird heat running through my veins, and my hearing was becoming so sharp that the ordinary noises of the house were starting to sound incredibly loud and distinct.

​I leaned down and pressed my ear directly against the thick wooden floorboards, wanting to see if I could track where Marcus went after he shoved me into the house, and to my surprise, the sounds from the courtyard below began to travel straight through the wood. I could hear the gravel crunching under heavy boots, and then Marcus’s deep voice cut through the quiet night, his tone completely laced with a heavy anger that made me freeze in place.

​"The shooter was positioned on the roof of the old warehouse across the channel, and he used a specialized weapon that left no casing behind, which means this was a professional hit designed to silence Richard before he could give up his employer," Marcus said, his voice booming clearly through the floorboards as he paced back and forth on the stone courtyard.

​"We are already checking the security logs from the casino and the docks, Don, but the killer managed to bypass all our external cameras, so it is highly likely they had an insider giving them the exact blind spots," River’s voice replied, sounding completely calm and collected as always, which made me shiver because I knew he was the one who actually ordered the hit on my stepfather.

​"I don't care about the cameras, River, because I want to know how a broke gambler like Richard Moretti got his hands on my private perimeter routing data, and I want to know who gave Cecelia that VIP pass to the auction," Marcus barked, the sound of his fist hitting a stone pillar echoing right up to my room.

​"The girl is completely terrified, Marcus, and she probably just found the invitation exactly where she said she did, so we shouldn't jump to conclusions about a traitor inside the house when it could easily be an external security firm that leaked the data," River answered smoothly, his voice containing a reassuring tone that was clearly meant to guide Marcus away from suspecting anyone in the inner circle.

​"She is hiding something from me, River, because her scent was completely full of guilt when I pulled her out of that alley, and I am going to find out exactly what she is keeping from me even if I have to interrogate her myself," Marcus muttered, his footsteps moving away toward the garage area until their voices became too faint for my ears to catch.

​I lifted my head from the floor, my heart pounding rapidly against my ribs as I tried to process the conversation, and I knew that if Marcus kept investigating, he would eventually find the connection between River and my stepfather. A light knock on my door interrupted my thoughts, and I watched the handle turn as Mary, one of the younger maids who usually brought my meals, stepped into the room with a silver tray containing a glass of water and some bread.

​The two guards outside watched her closely until she closed the door behind her, and she looked at me with a great deal of pity in her eyes as she set the tray down on the nightstand.

​"You shouldn't have gone to that place, Miss Cecelia, because the Don is in a terrible mood today, and everyone downstairs is saying that he might do something awful to you for disobeying his orders," Mary said, her voice trembling slightly as she smoothed down her apron.

​"I had to go, Mary, because it was personal, but right now I need you to do something for me because I cannot stay locked in this room like an animal while Marcus decides my fate," I said, stepping closer to her and grabbing her small hands, noticing how her pulse jumped because she was scared of getting caught.

​"I cannot help you escape, Miss Cecelia, because the guards will kill me if they find out I assisted you, and I need this job to support my family," she whispered, trying to pull her hands back, but I held on firmer.

​"I am not asking you to open the front gates for me, Mary, I just need something small to open the old lock on the terrace door so I can get some fresh movement around the balcony," I pleaded, pointing toward the heavy glass doors that led to the outer ledge. "Look at my wrist, I have a gold bracelet that Marcus gave me last week, and it is worth more than three months of your salary, so it is yours if you just give me a metal hairpin from your hair."

​Mary looked at the shiny gold piece on my wrist, her eyes widening with a mixture of greed and fear, and she glanced toward the door to make sure the guards weren't looking through the keyhole. "If they find out, you must promise to tell them you stole it from my basket while I was cleaning."

​"I promise, Mary, nobody will ever know you helped me," I said, quickly unclasping the gold chain and dropping it into her apron pocket while she reached up and pulled a long, sturdy black hairpin from her bun.

​"The night shift guards change at exactly two in the morning, and they usually take about five minutes to swap positions at the main stairs, so that is your only chance if you are going to move around," she whispered, picking up her empty tray and hurrying out of the room before I could even thank her.

​I held the small piece of metal in my hand, feeling a sudden surge of adrenaline because I knew exactly what I had to do, and I walked over to the terrace door to examine the old brass mechanism. The house was settling into a deep silence as the hours ticked by, and I kept my ears tuned to the hallway, waiting patiently for the heavy boots of the guards to move toward the staircase so I could test the lock and find out what else this mansion was hiding from me.